Collector Eric Fettmann on Babe Ruth & Yankee Stadium…

October 24, 2011 by · 2 Comments 

Our website item #584134 offers a New York Times newspaper from 1914 which has the earliest mention of Babe Ruth in that newspaper, and possibly any newspaper. Has anyone found earlier mention? The listing also mentions a report of a new Yankee Stadium being built–with an illustration of it–but I could find no documentation of it elsewhere. Eric offers further information on both with his comments:

Tim,

As for your item 584134, this may well be the first mention of Ruth in a newspaper. The earliest I can come up with is April 6, a week after this. But I didn’t have access to Baltimore papers, so there may be something earlier there.
As for the mysterious Yankee Stadium, here’s something from the NY Times in 1993:
“The Highlanders, soon known as the Yankees, had a middling record, while the nearby Giants were usually at or near the top of their league. So when the Polo Grounds burned in 1911, the Yankees used a certain calculating humility in letting the Giants temporarily use their own park. At the same time the Yankees said that they were building a new stadium at 225th and Broadway. That project slowed, perhaps for money reasons, and in 1913 the Yankees temporarily moved to the rebuilt Polo Grounds where, for rent of $55,000 a year, they rubbed schedules with the Giants.
It was there, in 1915, that the Yankees wore their first pinstripes, even as the 225th Street project was abandoned.” Eric

The Traveler… we’ve come a long way baby…

October 17, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

This week I traveled to The Woman’s Journal of October 14, 1911. This issue was celebrating after waiting two days for the outcome of the California election on the suffrage vote… “reading first with despair, then with growing hope and finally with jubilation the conflicting reports that came over the wires… Praise God. Victory ours. Four thousand majority.” The front page contains a photo of the Statue of Liberty with six stars surrounding her. These represented the states which have passed the “equal suffrage” — Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Washington and now adding California.

The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention is traditionally viewed as the beginning of the Women’s Rights Movement. It was not until June 4, 1919 that Congress sent the proposal for the 19th Amendment, the woman’s right to vote, and then it was not until August 18, 1920 that the final ratification was passed, by the vote from Tennessee. It was a long road, but “we’ve come a long way baby” since then!

~The Traveler

The Traveler… the dam burst… the judge “solomonizes” it…

October 3, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

In the travels of The New York Tribune dated October 3, 1911,  I found several reports on the destruction of the town of Austin, Pennsylvania. This occurred just a few days prior and was the result of the breaking of a fifty foot high and thirty foot wide concrete dam which then flooded this small town, destroying everything in its path.

In contrast to the above tragedy…  A bit of an amusing story is included of a court case which involved the owners of two cows, each of which became the mother to a calf. They wanted to have the court decide which rightfully owned the calf. The magistrate  literally took to the fields (the pasture) and “solomonized” his decision by the conduct of the cows and the calf.  See image for details.

~The Traveler

Actual headlines…

September 10, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

We offer thanks to fellow collector Morris Brill for some of the following headlines which appeared in recent newspapers:

“Iraqi Head Seeks Arms”

“Cold Wave Linked To Temperatures”

“Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge”

“Many Antiques At Senior Citizens’ Sale”

“Lack of Brains Hinders Research””

“Prisoners Escape After Execution”

“No Cause of Death Determined Fro Beheading Victim”

“Teacher Dies; Board Accepts His Resignation”

“Experts Are Sure The Dow Will Either Rise Or Decline”

“Lucky Man Sees Friend Die”

“Voluntary Workers Strike For Higher Pay”


Another cure for baldness…

September 3, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

This advertisement for “Graham’s Glass Vacuum Cap” appeared in the Oct. 7, 1905 issue of “Scientific American“. It proclaims: “See Your Hair Grow”. The instructions say that: “…when you have caused a good, healthy, red glow in the scalp…” it will cause hair to grow. I would think a red, glowing scalp would be a sign of other problems…

What happened to this Yankee stadium?

August 22, 2011 by · 1 Comment 

A question for all the Yankee fans out there: what happened to this stadium?

The March 29, 1914 issue of the “New York Times” shows the “…Plans For Yankees Park…” with a detailed drawing captioned: “How the Yankees’ Ball Yard at 225th Street and Broadway Will Look When it is Completed.” and beneath which is a detailed article headed: “Yankees’ New Park To Hold 40,000 Fans” “Double-Deck Grand Stand of Steel and Concrete to be Completed in September“. The article (see photos) provides many details of the new ball park, however I can find no record of it being built.

The Yankee website notes that the team shared the Polo Grounds with the Giants from 1913 through the early 1920’s until the stadium called the “House that Ruth Built” was ready for use in 1923. Does anyone know the history of this “mystery stadium” supposedly built in 1914?

Actual headlines in 2002…

August 20, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

We offer thanks to fellow collector Morris Brill for the following headlines which appeared in 2002:

“Something Went Wrong In Jet Crash, Experts Say”

“Police Begin Campaign To run Down Jaywalkers”

“Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over”

“Teacher Strikes Idle Kids”

“Miners Refuse To Work After Death”

“Juvenile Court To Try Shooting Defendant”

“War Dims Hope For Peace”

“If Strike Isn’t Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile”

“Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges”

“Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead”

“Kids Make Nutritious Snacks!”

“New Study Of Obesity Looks For Larger Test Group”

(more later!)

Tombstone was about to fade away…

August 13, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

Having offered several Tombstone newspapers from its brief heyday in the late 19th century, I thought you would find this article from the “Prescott Journal-Miner” of Arizona, July 8, 1930, interesting.  Having visited Tombstone about 3 years ago I can assure all that it does survive, albeit primarily as a partially reconstructed tourist attraction. It’s a fun town to visit if ever in Southern Arizona:

The Traveler… Standard Oil’s dissolution… “perfectly logical”…

August 1, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

Today I found myself in the The Christian Science Monitor dated August 1, 1911 where two front page articles caught my attention. The first is a bit of a continuation from a few weeks back,which was Standard Oil’s plan of dissolution being announced. The reorganization would involve the distribution of approximately 220,000 certificates representing 35 companies.

The other article was of Chicago’s aviation event which would have the largest purse ever offered, the prizes having a total value of $80,000.  A stadium (the largest at that time) would be built that would hold 60,000 persons. Some notables to be in attendances were: Glenn H. Curtiss, Tom Sopwith, J.A. D. McCurdy, John J Frisbie, Harry N Atwood, Charles Willard and others.

I also found a cute little story entitled “perfectly logical” which just says it all…

~The Traveler

Reporting a non-event…

July 2, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

It must have been a very slow news day as the “Boston American” of April 11, 1912 has a  bold headline (see below) proclaiming a non-event (see). Ironically, this was also the day after the Titanic set sail for its maiden voyage. Four days later the headline would be extremely significant.

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